


The One Where John’s Backpack Hisses

by orphan_account



Series: European Squad AU [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda, Hamilton - Miranda (Broadway Cast) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Child Abuse, Hamsquad is european, Henry Laurens' A+ Parenting, Hercules is irish, How do I reorder my tags, John likes animals and brings them home!, Just because I love Europe, Piercings, Snakes, i think this is crack, john and Hercules are on the football team, john is italian, lafayette is french
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-08-30 01:50:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16755583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: John always sneaks animals into his house.Sometimes he brings an animal to school.And occasionally, the animal escapes.





	The One Where John’s Backpack Hisses

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys. I’m trying writing again. This doesn’t really have a plot, but it’s an AU that I’ve had in my head for a REALLY long time so I wanted to finally get it started with something. I know it sounds weird but give it a chance :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John makes a new friend. Way past his bedtime.

_2:35 AM_ is what John’s clock read when he woke up. On a Sunday night. Or rather, now a very early Sunday morning. Groaning, he slumped against the headboard of his bed and rubbed his eyes. Moved stray hair behind his ears.

With his blurry half-awake vision, he squinted at the window across his room, trying to determine the cause of his awakening. The soft yellow moon was hazy through a scattered covering of clouds, its gleaming light just enough to make John see flares when he squeezed his eyes.

And then finally, it hit him when he felt a throbbing near his crotch. He fumbled with the weighted covers until he finally managed to toss them to the floor.

He needed to pee.

 _At least it’s not an erection,_ he thought.

John moaned as he dragged himself out of his bed. He passed his pet fox, on the way to the door, and smiled fondly. The domesticated animal was curled around itself, laying on top of a bundle of blankets fast asleep. Quietly, very quietly, he knelt on the floor in front of the pet and leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to the fox’s head. He stirred slightly in his sleep, nuzzled John’s face. John smiles when the fur tickles him. He stood back up again and continued on his way.

He whipped open the bathroom door. Now he had to be quiet, Hercules’ room was connected to the bathroom as well. Quieter this time, he slid open the door to the bath and toilet. 

He was glad he didn’t share a room anymore. 

When he finished up, he headed back to the sink room and splashed water onto his face. He had given up on using the bathroom as quick as possible as to “not lose any tired” so he could fall asleep quickly, and was now taking a break from the sleep. Clearing his mind.

He plopped into his bed, this time sitting up properly against the headboard.

Early morning is a great time to be up. When the rest of the world is asleep. Just you and the moon.

A time to be calm.

A time for quiet.

A time to - 

“Ow, what the fuck?” John whisper yelled. Something was pressing against the space behind his ears. Poky and sharp, and he was so suddenly aware of it. He slid his fingers behind his ear, and went blank-faced at his own idiocy.

He had fallen asleep with his piercings in. 

Frustratedly, he began screwing off the back of the earring, the white diamond studs now, stained red near the back, gleaming in the light of the moon. He wiped his finger behind his ear, finding a few droplets of blood had smeared onto it. Lazily, he stood up and grabbed a tissue from his nightstand, and set the earrings down on it. 

After another trip to the sinks, John was finally ready to relax.

He leaned on the windowsill, admiring the moon and stars in all their glory. John adored the moon. He was very fond of it. In fact, he talked to it often. John often kept this a secret, as he knew it sounded weird, but he found the moon to be a very good listener.

At night, John could recap his entire day to the moon and it wouldn’t interrupt. Just watch and listen as he spoke. It was a good way to rant. A better coping method than the drastic ones people who don’t vent their feelings tend to use. John doesn’t want to fall, so he keeps talking to the moon every night. The moon catches him. 

And sometimes, the moon speaks back.

Tonight, the moon was very bright. Or maybe it was the hour John was up at. It didn’t matter. The moon called him.

 _Come out, John,_ It told him. 

 

_Come out, there is so much to see, John. My world has so much to show._

So John opens the door to the hallway. He sneaks down the stairs, and he opens the door to the back porch. He doesn’t stop on the way, doesn’t falter in his steps. The night is calling, and he must answer. It pulls him. 

Outside, John closes the door quietly behind him. He tilts his head towards the sky, and basks in the glow of the moon. A soft smile spreads slowly across his face, his eyes close gently. 

And it’s enough. It feels good. It’s refreshing. He takes a seat on the wooden porch steps. Taking in his surroundings. The lake behind the house is a mirror at night. It reflects the moon in its own little world. John is glad the creatures in the pond world get sky of their own. 

The garden looks stunning. It stretches around the estate, and there are some small fruit trees planted in the backyard before the property ends and leads to the pond, and the woods behind it. John stands and heads over to one of the plants that are rather far from the house, blooming closer to the woods than their property.

A batch of night-blooming jasmine spread their essence there, gracing the senses of all who are lucky enough to smell it. John gets as close as possible without getting the flowers up his nose (as he had many times before) and gets a good whiff of the enchanting fragrance. John nearly fainted with content. 

Could this night get any better?

 

And then.

 

John whips his head to the forest. Something is rustling between the bushes, but between all the layers of foliage and ancient aging wood, he can’t see whatever is causing the movement. 

He backs up a little, distances himself incase a savage wolf leaps out and mauls him to death.

The rustling gets louder, there’s more movement in the grass than in the bushes now. 

And then the rustling stops, the creature having emerged from the woods. 

Supposedly.

John can’t see shit. He takes a few steps closer, slowly and cautiously, trying to figure out what was causing all the noise. And he does.

A snake slithers and curves in the grass outside the forest. John has never seen this kind of snake. He doesn’t know if it’s venemous. 

 _Well,_ he thinks as the snake gets closer.

_There’s only one way to find out._

The snake’s scales appear black, but they are iridescent. Beautiful. They reflect the light, and appear as a luminescent rainbow on the snake. Colors, purple, pink, red, blue, all glint off the snake in a show of color. 

John recognizes this. He’s seen people who have this snake as a pet on social media. They can sometimes be violent and attack if provoked, he remembers. 

But they aren’t venomous.

John continues walking backwards, slowly once more. But not in fear. 

“Hey little guy.” John leans down for a moment, listening for a hiss or any signs of threat in the snake. He doesn’t see or hear any. He continues stepping back, and the snake follows him. Finally John hits the bottom step of the back porch with his foot. He stumbles, but doesn’t loose his balance. Getting up onto the bottom step as if it will protect him, he leans down. Slowly. He doesn’t want to scare the animal.

The snake doesn’t lift its head. He waits a little for it to move. It only sneaks a little closer to him, discreetly but visibly. 

“I won’t hurt you.” He whispers. He remembers the last time he heard that and shudders. Those words sound fake. Empty of promise and will, and they aren’t enough.

”I promise I never will. I promise as long as you’re with me nothing will come to your harm. I’ll protect you from everyone. Even if they’re scared. I’ll hide you if you want. And if you get scared, you can just leave. I’ll let you go if you want.” He stills his shaking hand, and reaches out towards the snake. He hears a small noise emitting from it and stops. His fingers are an inch away from the creature. 

And it lifts its head to meet his fingers. Doesn’t shy away. Doesn’t pounce, or slither away. 

 _No sudden movements,_ He tells himself. He holds out his arm. Doesn’t move it, or get closer. 

 _Let it come to you_ , He remembers. It takes a while. John’s arm is getting tired. But the snake isn’t gone so he’s not giving up. Until finally, the snake approaches. Relatively slow. John puts all his energy into keeping his extended arm from shaking.

The shining scales make contact with John’s wrist. The rest of them follow when the snake twists up John’s arm. 

“Thank you. Please don’t kill me.” He says, hushed. As if the snake will listen. As if this makes it any less of a threat. 

He gets up from the steps, climbs them, all while keeping a weary eye on the snake. He makes his way to the wooden chairs on the deck, tries very carefully not to move in a way that would affect the snake’s position, and takes a seat. 

And he sits. Watching. His senses kicking in as the snake kept moving, a smooth glide over his skin. Some spots were ticklish to him, and he tried very hard not to squirm. The snake curled it’s head to John’s shoulder, the rest of the tail draping over John’s neck on the other side. 

Like a snake necklace. Except it wasn’t closed around his neck, thank god.

Contentedly and patiently, he sets his arms to rest and relaxes. Still watching the snake. Waiting to see if it wanted to move or leave, but it never did. He didn’t move, didn’t remove it from around him. Just breathed, and waited.

 ➳ ➳ ➳

John is about to fall asleep outside and the snake hasn’t moved.

Of course, anyone with common logic would put the creature back where it belongs and go to bed.

But no, no. John is somewhat of an idiot. Instead, he takes the snake inside with him as if he has brought home a school friend, welcomes it in like it couldn’t attack anyone in the house. 

Brings it up the stairs to his room. 

Once he is in, he drags the blankets his fox is bundled on out into the hall. 

“Sorry, baby.” He whispers. He shuts the door. He doesn’t want either of the animals eating each other if they wake up before him. 

John looks down at the snake, still curled around his neck. Its eyes camouflage with its scales, but they appear to be closed.

”Please get off.” He mumbles. Carefully and smartly, he puts his hand on the underscales at the neck and tail, attempting to lift it off his neck before it hissed shortly. John removed his hands instantly.

”Hey. You promised you wouldn’t kill me.” John sighed.

No it didn’t.

So John tiredly sat up on his bed, too afraid that lying down would upset the snake. 

“Piss off.” He tried. No effect. Strange. He put his hands back on the neck and tail. No hissing. He successfully managed to lift the snake off himself. Its beady eyes flashed open but made no movement or noise. John stood up and delicately placed the snake on the windowsill, after checking to make sure it was locked (in case the snake was James Bond and figured out how to crack the lock). 

Its eyelids flipped back onto its little eyes, and John sighed, flopping into his bed, relieved. “Goodnight.” He said to the snake from across the room.

No response. 

“Love you too.” Finally, John was able to comfortably drift off into sleep, blissfully unaware of any animal from the woods that could probably eat arm if it felt like it. 

None of that. For now, safely inside with John, the snake was taken care of.

When school came around tomorrow, and John had to leave, it’d probably be a different story.

Simple for a normal person. But John was an idiot with an overly large heart. As he felt himself slipping out of consciousness, a wild animal still in the room with him, he caught a glimpse of the moon before soft snores filled the room.

It was true, tomorrow would be difficult to explain. 

But the moon would watch over him for now. 

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote all this instead of writing an essay I actually need to do. Was that bad? I realized I actually switched tenses at some point... I’ll be writing the rest this week, hopefully. If you spot any mistakes please tell me! And I hope you enjoyed! Please give feedback <3
> 
> Have a good day/night!


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